Super Bowl Preview

by Vinaik Gautam, Columnist

4 February, 2018

The final hour is upon us folks! Super Bowl 52 will commence at 6:30 pm in Minneapolis, Minnesota where the New England Patriots will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles. These two teams have met previously in Super Bowl 39 and the Patriots were able to carve out a third title ring in four years. This time, the Eagles will be looking for revenge and hopefully bring a much needed championship to the City of Brotherly Love. Starting with the Eagles, I think they are the most skilled and versatile team in the NFC. Even though they will be without star QB Carson Wentz, backup QB Nick Foles has shown flashes of brilliance throughout the postseason. In the NFC Championship Game, Foles and the Eagle offense to score an unprecedented 38 points against the highly formidable Viking defense in Minneapolis. Nick Foles really seems to have found his rhythm and knows to get the football to his playmakers which include WR's Nelson Agholor and Alshon Jeffery, TE Zach Ertz, and RB's LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi. Blount has spent 3 seasons with the Patriots and is a major reason why they have won 2 Super Bowls in the last 3 years. Expect the Eagles to utilize him in order to figure out the schemes and formations that the Patriots like to run. As for the Patriots, they were given a big relief this week as TE Rob Gronkowski has been cleared to play on Sunday and will not anymore medical attention. As for Tom Brady, who just won his third MVP award on Saturday, it seems that his hand is healing and will be ready to suit up. For the Patriots, they will need to play stellar football in all three phases of the game. The Patriots have yet to score in the first quarter so expect HC Bill Belichick to come out firing with plays that get the Patriots in the end zone early. As for the defense of the Patriots, they really need to limit Foles' playmaking abilities and keep him under duress throughout the entirety of the game. I believe that the score will be close throughout much of the game but the Patriots, as they seem to do time and again, will find a way to win the game late.